[log] Niou & Yanagi
Jan. 24th, 2019 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tennis_hellWho: Niou Masaharu and Yanagi Renji
What: After this post, Yanagi brings Niou food, they shoot the shit for a bit, talk about the new drama, and then snuggle. Because why not.
When: Late November-ish
Where: Niou's apartment (aka who the hell knows)
Rating:G for once PG (never mind, found language)
Yanagi shifted the grocery bags he was carrying to one hand, freeing up the other to press the intercom to Niou’s apartment. Just another evening spent preventing Niou’s death by scurvy, he supposed, even if that hadn’t been the initial goal of coming here. He didn’t really mind; any time spent with Niou was almost guaranteed to be interesting.
It had been an evening full of entertaining banter online. Most of his free nights were mostly spent like this - lazying around on his couch, fucking around on his phone, basically anything other than being on his best behavior for the public eye, as his profession dictated most nights, and yes, that did include munching on his stash of snacks because cooking took too much effort.
At the sound of the doorbell, Niou abandoned his phone, and sauntered up to the intercom to buzz Yanagi in. “Yeah, come in,” he drawled through the speaker before wandering over to the front door to meet the dataman.
Making his way to the familiar front door, Yanagi could already identify five outstanding security issues, which hadn’t changed from the last time he was here. It might become a problem were Niou to become more popular than he already was. He turned as he heard the door open.
“Masaharu,” Yanagi greeted. “Good evening. I am here to deliver you from nutritional deficiency.”
Niou eyed the bags of groceries in Yanagi’s hand, curious for just how many things he purchased. Hopefully it wasn’t anything too elaborate or it likely would just sit in the kitchen untouched, but he also knew that Yanagi knew him much better than that. It was probably lazy man’s food with good nutritional value, as that did seem to be the topic of the evening.
“Hey,” he greeted simply, stepping away from the door to let Yanagi in. “What’cha got?”
Used to Niou’s particular brand of hospitality, Yanagi just stepped in, removing his shoes. “For tonight’s snack, kushiyaki from the shop around the corner,” he said, unburying the box from where he’d placed it in with other items for ease of carrying. “For your continued existence, some mikan, frozen side dishes, and microwavable rice. Also, Yakult.”
Now, that actually wasn’t so bad at all. Niou could make that work - all things considered, it was quite low key and wouldn’t just go to waste in his fridge. He hovered around Yanagi since now he was curious to dig into the food, which was probably the dataman’s plan all along. “Alright, you did well this time.”
Whether it was to help out or be obnoxious, the world would never know, but Niou took the bags from Yanagi and wandered back into the kitchen. He called over his shoulder, “Make yourself comfortable, I’ll get this shit put away.”
“I’m happy to be praised by Masaharu,” chuckled Yanagi, taking the takeout box to the coffee table in front of the TV so they could eat while lounging around. “Perhaps I can get the drinks? What do you have?” Task accomplished, he followed Niou into the kitchen to poke around. Analysis of the cabinets revealed Pocky, Pocky, and dried apricots.
“You’re taking the bachelor diet to the extreme,” he told Niou.
“A decent selection.” Niou glanced at Yanagi as he came into the kitchen from the corner of his eye, but otherwise just let him do his thing. Although his current food choices were abysmal at best, the fridge was stock full of various liquid substances that they pretty much had their pick of whatever.
The commentary about his bachelor diet brought an amused twinkle to blue eyes, but he otherwise just shrugged a thin shoulder, his shirt pulling away from his collar and slipping down his arm as he reviewed all the items from the grocery bags now laid out on the counter. It was a good selection, Yanagi definitely knew what he liked, but he also wanted to make sure that they’d be easy to pair together when he was ready to prepare them. “Eh, gets the job done.”
“Hmm.” Yanagi came up behind Niou and rested his chin on the bared shoulder, placing a hand on each side of Niou’s waist, encircling it with his fingers. “Only if you’re going for the slender willow branch figure,” he said. Yanagi poked Niou in his bony ribs once for good measure before stepping back to investigate the selection in the fridge. He selected two cans of beer that would probably go well with their snack, and went to sit back down at the table.
The chill of the cold near-winter weather lingered on Yanagi’s hands - Niou could feel it sink through the thin fabric of his shirt, dancing a shiver up his spine, though that could also easily be blamed on the close proximity of his former teammate. “Isn’t that you instead, willow tree?” An attempt to poke Yanagi in return was futile, for he was out of his space sooner than he cared to react; instead his fingers met empty air. “Lemme put these away and then I’ll join you.”
“It’s a literary reference,” Yanagi replied, raising his voice a little louder than his usual low tone to make himself heard from the living room. “This particular willow tree is more oak-like these days.” With the majority of his time spent pushing paper, organising Yukimura’s schedule, or supervising Yukimura’s training, Yanagi was regrettably not as physically fit as he used to be. At least his dates never seemed to mind.
“I don’t read,” Niou supplied in return, though they both knew that wasn’t the case at all.
Once the groceries were put away and Niou had fully inspected everything that Yanagi had brought, he wandered back into the living room, and unceremoniously dumped himself on the couch. For all Niou teased and disputed the goodies that Yanagi brought, he was grateful - it smelled good and the beer was a perfect pair to the food. “So,” he started, leaning forward to open the box and poke around at the food. “Seiichi’s keeping you busy.”
“He is my boss,” said Yanagi, picking up a chicken skewer and offering it to Niou. “He has a right to. I’m enjoying myself, though, but I’m sure you can tell.”
He watched, amused, as Niou eyed the food with obvious interest. His junk food diet could not be sustainable in the long term, and Yanagi was almost sure Niou was just hanging in there with the power of youthfulness. Perhaps a meal delivery option would have to be suggested.
Like a pleased cat, Niou took the chicken skewer and settled back into the couch cushion, making sure to take one of the cans of beer with him in hand as he did. “I can tell,” he said as he balanced the can on one knee to crack it open with the satisfying clicking noise of air escaping the can and fizz rising to the rim. It wasn’t high quality beer by any means (certainly wouldn’t be palatable for Shiraishi’s picky ass taste in beer), but there was a time and place for cheap beer.
He paused in speaking to take a good, long sip of the beer before diving in on the chicken skewer. It was just the right amount of sauce to meat and it would definitely be Sanada approved. “I’m gonna be at more of his shit this upcoming season. Sucked I didn’t make it out much last time.”
Yanagi opened his own can of beer before choosing a vegetable skewer with a salty-sweet glaze for himself. He settled in next to Niou, shoulders touching, and took his time nibbling on the skewer. Having already eaten dinner earlier, Yanagi wasn’t hungry, but it was nice to have a late night snack with alcohol now and again. He was more interested in watching Niou enjoy his food with gusto, though.
“That’s good. Seiichi would love for you to be there. I’ll be sure to save you good tickets.”
Not having to fuck around with tickets made it so much easier. Niou could arrange the travel as needed and likely could get away with it without too much trouble from the agency - especially if the travel was international, it would be easier to arrange transportation without dealing with possible crowds at the airport, though he was usually safe travelling by shinkansen, too.
“Thanks, appreciate it.” Niou stretched his legs out to rest his heels on the table, crossing his feet at the ankles, and naturally leaned back into Yanagi. “You have hell training for him scheduled?”
“I can arrange discreet transportation as well, should you need it,” Yanagi added, guessing at Niou’s thoughts. It wouldn’t be much different from handling Yukimura after a high-profile win. He took another sip of his beer before setting it on the coffee table. Now he had a free arm to curl around Niou’s waist. There had been cuddling promised, after all.
“And yes, hell training,” he said. “Seiichi will need it, considering how ambitious he’s being for the coming season.” Yanagi also hoped that pushing Yukimura early would reveal any potential physical problems sooner than later, so they could deal accordingly.
Niou wasted no time in getting himself cuddled up to Yanagi. If I fits, I sits, Niou thought to himself in amusement, as he enjoyed the heat transfer between them. “Depends on where we’re going. Strict agency rules and all that.” The reality was that his manager was usually the one to cart him around job to job, they weren’t that particular with how he got around, but throwing him in the mix with other high profile individuals could be messy.
“He going for a grand slam or something?” Niou inspected what was remaining on the chicken skewer before tugging off another chunk of meat with his teeth. “If anyone could do it, it’s him.” Were Yukimura to actually accomplish such things, it would followed by a celebration that would never end.
“I understand, we’ll play it by ear then. Just let me know when the time comes.” Yanagi squeezed Niou’s waist a little more firmly and adjusted them to improve the blood supply to his arm before he could develop pins and needles.
“Seiichi would love nothing more, I think,” he mused, thinking of Yukimura’s ambition and drive. “I don’t think he’ll make it quite yet, but the struggle will be educational for him.” Yanagi believed Yukimura wasn’t quite yet at his prime, and it would be his privilege to see him there, to the best of his ability.
“Yep, you got it.” The remainder of the chicken skewer is devoured and another quickly retrieved, and Niou lets himself be moved and shifted as needed to allow for Yanagi’s greatest comfort, though once they settle again he’s settled for good.
It wasn’t surprising that Yanagi didn’t think Yukimura was quite there, yet. Really, there had been very few players to accomplish a true grand slam, at least from what Niou could remember from the hours he used to spend pouring over watching old tennis matches to look for ways to improve his own game. “It’ll just give him all the more reason to push through,” he mused, looking thoughtfully at the skewer. “Hell, the time to do it would be when the Olympics come. Go for that golden slam instead. Why settle for anything less?” That was the Rikkai way, after all.
“I won’t let him,” said Yanagi, with surprising firmness. He’d switched out his own picked-bare skewer for the beer can, and was resting his head on Niou’s shoulder while taking periodic sips. “If it would ruin his health I wouldn’t let him, no matter how much he wanted to.” Well, he’d try to stop Yukimura, at least, but Yukimura tended to get his own way if he had a mind to. He sighed a little. Balance was difficult in managing an athlete like Yukimura.
Of course, there was nothing that Niou wanted more than for Yukimura’s health to never be jeopardized. As a fourteen year old kid, watching someone go through something so traumatizing while being hopeless to do anything to combat it other than try to provide distractions was something that Niou hoped to never revisit. Even now he carried it with him - even after Yukimura had made his recovery, even after so many years had passed since that year, it was just something that stuck.
“Nobody wants that,” he agreed, taking out his emotions on the skewer. Strong emotions any sort sucked, but all that shit in particular sucked the most. “He won’t stop at much, but he’d listen to you.”
“Mm.” Yanagi nodded into the crook of Niou’s neck. He was quiet for a while, aware that he’d miscalculated and brought up something that was still painful for all of them, even after so long. “I apologise for bringing the mood down,” he said eventually. “Shall we talk about something else? What new wickednesses you’re up to these days, perhaps?”
Niou had no issue with comfortable silence; he spent many hours not saying anything to anyone and it was actually quite relaxing to him. The other man’s weight was warm against his side, his hair was tickling his jaw, and their breathing fell into a nice, lazy rhythm. It would almost be enough to lull him to sleep were it not for his beer that desperately needed his attention and the meat skewers that were calling his name. Yanagi did know what he liked best.
“What wickedness am I not up to?” His speech was a lazy drawl, hindered only by the beer to his lips. “Fucking around, taking sexy pictures, bugging Shiraishi, all that fun stuff.” The most exciting thing to have happened recently was the drama that he was starring in alongside Shiraishi Kuranosuke, that had taken up the majority of his time recently.
Glad that Niou didn’t seem to blame him for the dreary topic, Yanagi relaxed and sipped a little most of his beer.
“Will I get to see the sexy pictures eventually?” he mused aloud, idly rubbing circles into Niou’s side. Niou’s appearance in centerfold spreads in various states of undress was not a particularly rare occurrence, but new pictures were always something to look forward to. “Are you enjoying filming with Shiraishi-kun? How is he dealing with your corrupting influence?”
There was little Niou enjoyed more than showing off all his new images, whether they were in finished publications or just the pictures he snapped on his iPhone of the proofs. “I’ve got some I can share - wanna see?” Niou shifted his weight to lean more into Yanagi and reached for the last skewer.
Whether or not Shiraishi would agree that he had fallen under Niou’s corruptive influence would have to be left to the blonde to decide and based on previous interactions, he likely wasn’t in the least, but for as many hours as Niou had spent analyzing Shiraishi’s entire way of being for a perfect illusion, Shiraishi had somehow managed to see right through him in a fraction of the amount of time. Ass. “It’s good. He’s not putting up with any of my shit, which I anticipated, but I think we’ve got a good thing going on.”
“Of course I want to see,” said Yanagi, resting his chin on Niou’s shoulder. He was pleased to see that Niou had eaten most of the skewers. At least that meant Niou had gotten his protein for the day, even if it wasn’t a nutritionally complete meal.
“That’s nice. It’s not any fun when they’re too easily taken in, hmm?” Not that he had expected any different from Shiraishi. “I’m glad you’re getting along. I’ll be highly anticipating the drama, then.”
“Of course, no challenge in that,” Niou said from around the skewer, munching on the chicken. Done. Finished. Gold star. Yanagi should be proud. He did quite enjoy the weight of Yanagi’s chin on his shoulders and only shifted his hips enough to pull his phone out from his pocket. “You should, it’s a good one. We’ll be performing the opening song on prolly a shit ton of shows, too.”
Speaking of Star Debut, he did have some of the promotional images on his iPhone - those would be a good place to start. “Actually, how ‘bout the proofs from that. Got some good ones from that.” As he spoke, he navigated through the menus to the camera row, turning the phone enough so Yanagi could take a look for himself. “Like this.”
The character that Niou played on the show was basically a complete opposite from Niou as a person and it certainly showed in the pictures. Tsubasa was a light hearted guy who loved music first and foremost - his grins came easily with no hint of the usual mischief that expressive blue eyes twinkled through Niou’s usual affairs.
“Look how deceptively sweet and refreshing you are in these,” laughed Yanagi, reaching a hand forward to swipe slowly through the album. He preferred Niou’s devious, sharp smiles to the glittering youthfulness on the screen, but he could appreciate that he looked good nonetheless. “You’ll have so many teenage girls head over heels for you, Masaharu. Is Shiraishi’s character your love rival? Friend? Both?”
Languid limbs settled around Yanagi, Niou comfortably making a crook for himself as his friend looked through the album. “What a goddamn lie that is, huh?” Blue eyes danced with amusement and like a cat, he settled his cheek on Yanagi’s shoulder. It was a good shoulder - strong and definitely well suited for snuggling.
“Friend. Best friend, really. I guess the idea is that Shiraishi’s character Hikaru confessed his love to Tsubasa when they were in high school and was rejected,” Niou said with a yawn that was promptly muffled in the clothing covering Yanagi’s shoulder. “They then went on to form this band together and shit happens.” ‘Shit happens’ was quite possibly the worst explanation ever, but, well, shit happened.
If Niou was going to be a sleepy limpet, then Yanagi would rather they be comfortable. After a brief check to see that no opened beverages were at risk of spilling, he lowered himself to lie down on the couch, taking Niou with him.
“At least it’s acting, so we can’t say it’s false advertising,” said Yanagi, amused. “Is this a slow burn romance, then? What’s Shiraishi’s character like?” Going by regular romance tropes, Yanagi thought it might be the brooding, serious sort to contrast with Niou’s light-hearted character. Now that would be something to see.
Now that hit the spot just right. Niou wiggled as such that his back and ass were pressed into the back of the couch and the rest of him draped comfortably on Yanagi. “Nothin’ false about me, dataman,” Niou drawled in his mishmashed thick dialect. “I dunno if we’re gonna get anywhere based on what’s been outlined, so definitely a slow burn romance.” Not that many critics believed it would get anywhere past the pilot episode - it was ballsy to have an LGBT friendly drama in a primetime slot. “His character’s one of those shy sorts. The kind who come alive on stage and is actually super charismatic.”
It was rare for this kind of content to be on television, especially one that involved rising stars like Niou and Shiraishi. Quite a bold move for both their agencies. “That sounds interesting and potentially groundbreaking, actually,” Yanagi mused, running his fingers through Niou’s trademark rat tail. It was softer than he remembered it being. He gave it a few gentle tugs for good measure.
“I’m going to sleep here, if you don’t mind,” he told Niou.
Niou would never once say no to the hands in his rattail, especially not when they tugged just so. He made a happy noise akin to a purr as blue eyes fell closed. If ‘here’ equalled ‘right here,’ then who was Niou to say no to Yanagi? “T’is,” he affirmed, though it had zero gusto in the way it was spoken, and now his mind had fluttered elsewhere.
“Mn,” was the next barely intelligible word. “Like this?”
“We could move to the bed, of course, but your couch is quite comfortable,” Yanagi said, playing with the handful of pale hair. He suspected Niou himself probably slept there quite often. He’d wake up early tomorrow to help with cleaning up all the their empty cans and skewers, but for now, Yanagi himself was quite drowsy from Niou’s warm weight against him. “Good night?” he suggested.
Yanagi was not wrong that Niou did in fact sleep on the couch quite often. It wasn’t that he purposefully did so - with such a plush, comfortable bed it was actually more a miracle that he didn’t force himself into bed at night and refuse to get up in the morning - but oftentimes by the time he was home after a long day of meetings and shoots and filming, he was ready to just pass out on whatever vertical flat surface there was.
“It’s a good couch,” he mumbled, adjusting each limb just enough to be comfortable enough to sleep tucked against Yanagi for the night. It reminded him that at some point he did have every intention of bringing a cat into his life - if nothing else, to take advantage of those perfect little kitten purrs and razor sharp kitten claws. “Yeah, night,” were the words to follow, accented by an over exaggerated yawn.
Satisfied by both Niou’s answer and the cozy comfort of their sleeping arrangement, Yanagi nodded and flicked off the light of the lamp closest to them. Closing his eyes, he let the sound of their slow, even breathing lull himself to sleep.
What: After this post, Yanagi brings Niou food, they shoot the shit for a bit, talk about the new drama, and then snuggle. Because why not.
When: Late November-ish
Where: Niou's apartment (aka who the hell knows)
Rating:
Yanagi shifted the grocery bags he was carrying to one hand, freeing up the other to press the intercom to Niou’s apartment. Just another evening spent preventing Niou’s death by scurvy, he supposed, even if that hadn’t been the initial goal of coming here. He didn’t really mind; any time spent with Niou was almost guaranteed to be interesting.
It had been an evening full of entertaining banter online. Most of his free nights were mostly spent like this - lazying around on his couch, fucking around on his phone, basically anything other than being on his best behavior for the public eye, as his profession dictated most nights, and yes, that did include munching on his stash of snacks because cooking took too much effort.
At the sound of the doorbell, Niou abandoned his phone, and sauntered up to the intercom to buzz Yanagi in. “Yeah, come in,” he drawled through the speaker before wandering over to the front door to meet the dataman.
Making his way to the familiar front door, Yanagi could already identify five outstanding security issues, which hadn’t changed from the last time he was here. It might become a problem were Niou to become more popular than he already was. He turned as he heard the door open.
“Masaharu,” Yanagi greeted. “Good evening. I am here to deliver you from nutritional deficiency.”
Niou eyed the bags of groceries in Yanagi’s hand, curious for just how many things he purchased. Hopefully it wasn’t anything too elaborate or it likely would just sit in the kitchen untouched, but he also knew that Yanagi knew him much better than that. It was probably lazy man’s food with good nutritional value, as that did seem to be the topic of the evening.
“Hey,” he greeted simply, stepping away from the door to let Yanagi in. “What’cha got?”
Used to Niou’s particular brand of hospitality, Yanagi just stepped in, removing his shoes. “For tonight’s snack, kushiyaki from the shop around the corner,” he said, unburying the box from where he’d placed it in with other items for ease of carrying. “For your continued existence, some mikan, frozen side dishes, and microwavable rice. Also, Yakult.”
Now, that actually wasn’t so bad at all. Niou could make that work - all things considered, it was quite low key and wouldn’t just go to waste in his fridge. He hovered around Yanagi since now he was curious to dig into the food, which was probably the dataman’s plan all along. “Alright, you did well this time.”
Whether it was to help out or be obnoxious, the world would never know, but Niou took the bags from Yanagi and wandered back into the kitchen. He called over his shoulder, “Make yourself comfortable, I’ll get this shit put away.”
“I’m happy to be praised by Masaharu,” chuckled Yanagi, taking the takeout box to the coffee table in front of the TV so they could eat while lounging around. “Perhaps I can get the drinks? What do you have?” Task accomplished, he followed Niou into the kitchen to poke around. Analysis of the cabinets revealed Pocky, Pocky, and dried apricots.
“You’re taking the bachelor diet to the extreme,” he told Niou.
“A decent selection.” Niou glanced at Yanagi as he came into the kitchen from the corner of his eye, but otherwise just let him do his thing. Although his current food choices were abysmal at best, the fridge was stock full of various liquid substances that they pretty much had their pick of whatever.
The commentary about his bachelor diet brought an amused twinkle to blue eyes, but he otherwise just shrugged a thin shoulder, his shirt pulling away from his collar and slipping down his arm as he reviewed all the items from the grocery bags now laid out on the counter. It was a good selection, Yanagi definitely knew what he liked, but he also wanted to make sure that they’d be easy to pair together when he was ready to prepare them. “Eh, gets the job done.”
“Hmm.” Yanagi came up behind Niou and rested his chin on the bared shoulder, placing a hand on each side of Niou’s waist, encircling it with his fingers. “Only if you’re going for the slender willow branch figure,” he said. Yanagi poked Niou in his bony ribs once for good measure before stepping back to investigate the selection in the fridge. He selected two cans of beer that would probably go well with their snack, and went to sit back down at the table.
The chill of the cold near-winter weather lingered on Yanagi’s hands - Niou could feel it sink through the thin fabric of his shirt, dancing a shiver up his spine, though that could also easily be blamed on the close proximity of his former teammate. “Isn’t that you instead, willow tree?” An attempt to poke Yanagi in return was futile, for he was out of his space sooner than he cared to react; instead his fingers met empty air. “Lemme put these away and then I’ll join you.”
“It’s a literary reference,” Yanagi replied, raising his voice a little louder than his usual low tone to make himself heard from the living room. “This particular willow tree is more oak-like these days.” With the majority of his time spent pushing paper, organising Yukimura’s schedule, or supervising Yukimura’s training, Yanagi was regrettably not as physically fit as he used to be. At least his dates never seemed to mind.
“I don’t read,” Niou supplied in return, though they both knew that wasn’t the case at all.
Once the groceries were put away and Niou had fully inspected everything that Yanagi had brought, he wandered back into the living room, and unceremoniously dumped himself on the couch. For all Niou teased and disputed the goodies that Yanagi brought, he was grateful - it smelled good and the beer was a perfect pair to the food. “So,” he started, leaning forward to open the box and poke around at the food. “Seiichi’s keeping you busy.”
“He is my boss,” said Yanagi, picking up a chicken skewer and offering it to Niou. “He has a right to. I’m enjoying myself, though, but I’m sure you can tell.”
He watched, amused, as Niou eyed the food with obvious interest. His junk food diet could not be sustainable in the long term, and Yanagi was almost sure Niou was just hanging in there with the power of youthfulness. Perhaps a meal delivery option would have to be suggested.
Like a pleased cat, Niou took the chicken skewer and settled back into the couch cushion, making sure to take one of the cans of beer with him in hand as he did. “I can tell,” he said as he balanced the can on one knee to crack it open with the satisfying clicking noise of air escaping the can and fizz rising to the rim. It wasn’t high quality beer by any means (certainly wouldn’t be palatable for Shiraishi’s picky ass taste in beer), but there was a time and place for cheap beer.
He paused in speaking to take a good, long sip of the beer before diving in on the chicken skewer. It was just the right amount of sauce to meat and it would definitely be Sanada approved. “I’m gonna be at more of his shit this upcoming season. Sucked I didn’t make it out much last time.”
Yanagi opened his own can of beer before choosing a vegetable skewer with a salty-sweet glaze for himself. He settled in next to Niou, shoulders touching, and took his time nibbling on the skewer. Having already eaten dinner earlier, Yanagi wasn’t hungry, but it was nice to have a late night snack with alcohol now and again. He was more interested in watching Niou enjoy his food with gusto, though.
“That’s good. Seiichi would love for you to be there. I’ll be sure to save you good tickets.”
Not having to fuck around with tickets made it so much easier. Niou could arrange the travel as needed and likely could get away with it without too much trouble from the agency - especially if the travel was international, it would be easier to arrange transportation without dealing with possible crowds at the airport, though he was usually safe travelling by shinkansen, too.
“Thanks, appreciate it.” Niou stretched his legs out to rest his heels on the table, crossing his feet at the ankles, and naturally leaned back into Yanagi. “You have hell training for him scheduled?”
“I can arrange discreet transportation as well, should you need it,” Yanagi added, guessing at Niou’s thoughts. It wouldn’t be much different from handling Yukimura after a high-profile win. He took another sip of his beer before setting it on the coffee table. Now he had a free arm to curl around Niou’s waist. There had been cuddling promised, after all.
“And yes, hell training,” he said. “Seiichi will need it, considering how ambitious he’s being for the coming season.” Yanagi also hoped that pushing Yukimura early would reveal any potential physical problems sooner than later, so they could deal accordingly.
Niou wasted no time in getting himself cuddled up to Yanagi. If I fits, I sits, Niou thought to himself in amusement, as he enjoyed the heat transfer between them. “Depends on where we’re going. Strict agency rules and all that.” The reality was that his manager was usually the one to cart him around job to job, they weren’t that particular with how he got around, but throwing him in the mix with other high profile individuals could be messy.
“He going for a grand slam or something?” Niou inspected what was remaining on the chicken skewer before tugging off another chunk of meat with his teeth. “If anyone could do it, it’s him.” Were Yukimura to actually accomplish such things, it would followed by a celebration that would never end.
“I understand, we’ll play it by ear then. Just let me know when the time comes.” Yanagi squeezed Niou’s waist a little more firmly and adjusted them to improve the blood supply to his arm before he could develop pins and needles.
“Seiichi would love nothing more, I think,” he mused, thinking of Yukimura’s ambition and drive. “I don’t think he’ll make it quite yet, but the struggle will be educational for him.” Yanagi believed Yukimura wasn’t quite yet at his prime, and it would be his privilege to see him there, to the best of his ability.
“Yep, you got it.” The remainder of the chicken skewer is devoured and another quickly retrieved, and Niou lets himself be moved and shifted as needed to allow for Yanagi’s greatest comfort, though once they settle again he’s settled for good.
It wasn’t surprising that Yanagi didn’t think Yukimura was quite there, yet. Really, there had been very few players to accomplish a true grand slam, at least from what Niou could remember from the hours he used to spend pouring over watching old tennis matches to look for ways to improve his own game. “It’ll just give him all the more reason to push through,” he mused, looking thoughtfully at the skewer. “Hell, the time to do it would be when the Olympics come. Go for that golden slam instead. Why settle for anything less?” That was the Rikkai way, after all.
“I won’t let him,” said Yanagi, with surprising firmness. He’d switched out his own picked-bare skewer for the beer can, and was resting his head on Niou’s shoulder while taking periodic sips. “If it would ruin his health I wouldn’t let him, no matter how much he wanted to.” Well, he’d try to stop Yukimura, at least, but Yukimura tended to get his own way if he had a mind to. He sighed a little. Balance was difficult in managing an athlete like Yukimura.
Of course, there was nothing that Niou wanted more than for Yukimura’s health to never be jeopardized. As a fourteen year old kid, watching someone go through something so traumatizing while being hopeless to do anything to combat it other than try to provide distractions was something that Niou hoped to never revisit. Even now he carried it with him - even after Yukimura had made his recovery, even after so many years had passed since that year, it was just something that stuck.
“Nobody wants that,” he agreed, taking out his emotions on the skewer. Strong emotions any sort sucked, but all that shit in particular sucked the most. “He won’t stop at much, but he’d listen to you.”
“Mm.” Yanagi nodded into the crook of Niou’s neck. He was quiet for a while, aware that he’d miscalculated and brought up something that was still painful for all of them, even after so long. “I apologise for bringing the mood down,” he said eventually. “Shall we talk about something else? What new wickednesses you’re up to these days, perhaps?”
Niou had no issue with comfortable silence; he spent many hours not saying anything to anyone and it was actually quite relaxing to him. The other man’s weight was warm against his side, his hair was tickling his jaw, and their breathing fell into a nice, lazy rhythm. It would almost be enough to lull him to sleep were it not for his beer that desperately needed his attention and the meat skewers that were calling his name. Yanagi did know what he liked best.
“What wickedness am I not up to?” His speech was a lazy drawl, hindered only by the beer to his lips. “Fucking around, taking sexy pictures, bugging Shiraishi, all that fun stuff.” The most exciting thing to have happened recently was the drama that he was starring in alongside Shiraishi Kuranosuke, that had taken up the majority of his time recently.
Glad that Niou didn’t seem to blame him for the dreary topic, Yanagi relaxed and sipped a little most of his beer.
“Will I get to see the sexy pictures eventually?” he mused aloud, idly rubbing circles into Niou’s side. Niou’s appearance in centerfold spreads in various states of undress was not a particularly rare occurrence, but new pictures were always something to look forward to. “Are you enjoying filming with Shiraishi-kun? How is he dealing with your corrupting influence?”
There was little Niou enjoyed more than showing off all his new images, whether they were in finished publications or just the pictures he snapped on his iPhone of the proofs. “I’ve got some I can share - wanna see?” Niou shifted his weight to lean more into Yanagi and reached for the last skewer.
Whether or not Shiraishi would agree that he had fallen under Niou’s corruptive influence would have to be left to the blonde to decide and based on previous interactions, he likely wasn’t in the least, but for as many hours as Niou had spent analyzing Shiraishi’s entire way of being for a perfect illusion, Shiraishi had somehow managed to see right through him in a fraction of the amount of time. Ass. “It’s good. He’s not putting up with any of my shit, which I anticipated, but I think we’ve got a good thing going on.”
“Of course I want to see,” said Yanagi, resting his chin on Niou’s shoulder. He was pleased to see that Niou had eaten most of the skewers. At least that meant Niou had gotten his protein for the day, even if it wasn’t a nutritionally complete meal.
“That’s nice. It’s not any fun when they’re too easily taken in, hmm?” Not that he had expected any different from Shiraishi. “I’m glad you’re getting along. I’ll be highly anticipating the drama, then.”
“Of course, no challenge in that,” Niou said from around the skewer, munching on the chicken. Done. Finished. Gold star. Yanagi should be proud. He did quite enjoy the weight of Yanagi’s chin on his shoulders and only shifted his hips enough to pull his phone out from his pocket. “You should, it’s a good one. We’ll be performing the opening song on prolly a shit ton of shows, too.”
Speaking of Star Debut, he did have some of the promotional images on his iPhone - those would be a good place to start. “Actually, how ‘bout the proofs from that. Got some good ones from that.” As he spoke, he navigated through the menus to the camera row, turning the phone enough so Yanagi could take a look for himself. “Like this.”
The character that Niou played on the show was basically a complete opposite from Niou as a person and it certainly showed in the pictures. Tsubasa was a light hearted guy who loved music first and foremost - his grins came easily with no hint of the usual mischief that expressive blue eyes twinkled through Niou’s usual affairs.
“Look how deceptively sweet and refreshing you are in these,” laughed Yanagi, reaching a hand forward to swipe slowly through the album. He preferred Niou’s devious, sharp smiles to the glittering youthfulness on the screen, but he could appreciate that he looked good nonetheless. “You’ll have so many teenage girls head over heels for you, Masaharu. Is Shiraishi’s character your love rival? Friend? Both?”
Languid limbs settled around Yanagi, Niou comfortably making a crook for himself as his friend looked through the album. “What a goddamn lie that is, huh?” Blue eyes danced with amusement and like a cat, he settled his cheek on Yanagi’s shoulder. It was a good shoulder - strong and definitely well suited for snuggling.
“Friend. Best friend, really. I guess the idea is that Shiraishi’s character Hikaru confessed his love to Tsubasa when they were in high school and was rejected,” Niou said with a yawn that was promptly muffled in the clothing covering Yanagi’s shoulder. “They then went on to form this band together and shit happens.” ‘Shit happens’ was quite possibly the worst explanation ever, but, well, shit happened.
If Niou was going to be a sleepy limpet, then Yanagi would rather they be comfortable. After a brief check to see that no opened beverages were at risk of spilling, he lowered himself to lie down on the couch, taking Niou with him.
“At least it’s acting, so we can’t say it’s false advertising,” said Yanagi, amused. “Is this a slow burn romance, then? What’s Shiraishi’s character like?” Going by regular romance tropes, Yanagi thought it might be the brooding, serious sort to contrast with Niou’s light-hearted character. Now that would be something to see.
Now that hit the spot just right. Niou wiggled as such that his back and ass were pressed into the back of the couch and the rest of him draped comfortably on Yanagi. “Nothin’ false about me, dataman,” Niou drawled in his mishmashed thick dialect. “I dunno if we’re gonna get anywhere based on what’s been outlined, so definitely a slow burn romance.” Not that many critics believed it would get anywhere past the pilot episode - it was ballsy to have an LGBT friendly drama in a primetime slot. “His character’s one of those shy sorts. The kind who come alive on stage and is actually super charismatic.”
It was rare for this kind of content to be on television, especially one that involved rising stars like Niou and Shiraishi. Quite a bold move for both their agencies. “That sounds interesting and potentially groundbreaking, actually,” Yanagi mused, running his fingers through Niou’s trademark rat tail. It was softer than he remembered it being. He gave it a few gentle tugs for good measure.
“I’m going to sleep here, if you don’t mind,” he told Niou.
Niou would never once say no to the hands in his rattail, especially not when they tugged just so. He made a happy noise akin to a purr as blue eyes fell closed. If ‘here’ equalled ‘right here,’ then who was Niou to say no to Yanagi? “T’is,” he affirmed, though it had zero gusto in the way it was spoken, and now his mind had fluttered elsewhere.
“Mn,” was the next barely intelligible word. “Like this?”
“We could move to the bed, of course, but your couch is quite comfortable,” Yanagi said, playing with the handful of pale hair. He suspected Niou himself probably slept there quite often. He’d wake up early tomorrow to help with cleaning up all the their empty cans and skewers, but for now, Yanagi himself was quite drowsy from Niou’s warm weight against him. “Good night?” he suggested.
Yanagi was not wrong that Niou did in fact sleep on the couch quite often. It wasn’t that he purposefully did so - with such a plush, comfortable bed it was actually more a miracle that he didn’t force himself into bed at night and refuse to get up in the morning - but oftentimes by the time he was home after a long day of meetings and shoots and filming, he was ready to just pass out on whatever vertical flat surface there was.
“It’s a good couch,” he mumbled, adjusting each limb just enough to be comfortable enough to sleep tucked against Yanagi for the night. It reminded him that at some point he did have every intention of bringing a cat into his life - if nothing else, to take advantage of those perfect little kitten purrs and razor sharp kitten claws. “Yeah, night,” were the words to follow, accented by an over exaggerated yawn.
Satisfied by both Niou’s answer and the cozy comfort of their sleeping arrangement, Yanagi nodded and flicked off the light of the lamp closest to them. Closing his eyes, he let the sound of their slow, even breathing lull himself to sleep.
